The present invention relates to improvements in wipers for the side mounted rearview mirrors of trucks.
Truck drivers rely on their side mounted rearview mirrors since most trucks have freight hauling portions which block the use of a rearview mirror mounted internally in the cab. Of course, it is very important that the driver get a good view of traffic behind him from his rearview mirror. However, being exposed to rain, snow, dew, dirt and road salt, the outside mirrors can become dirty and smeared, blocking the driver's view. Because the view through the outside mounted mirror is so critical to safe operation of the truck, the truck driver needs to keep the mirror clean.
Various efforts have been made in the past to provide wipers for the outside, side mounted rearview mirrors of trucks. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,866,258 to DeGraw and U.S. Pat. No. 4,527,301 to Seitz disclose wiper assemblies for side mounted rearview mirrors in which the wiper traverses the mirror as driven by a pneumatic cylinder. U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,136 to Denison and U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,740 to Vahrenwald et al. provide similar mirrors with the wiper being driven by an electric motor. U.S. Pat. No. 4,457,597 DeGideo discloses a wiper which is moved up and down by hand. U.S. Pat. No. 4,672,708 to H. Williams discloses a wiper which pivots under the hand operation of a bowden wire. He also discloses the possibility of actuating his bowden wire with a pneumatic drive. He also suggests the possibility of providing a washer fluid supply mechanism but does not give any details of such a mechanism. U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,381 to G. Williams discloses a rearview mirror wiper which also includes a washer and a liquid conduit from the washer liquid tank to a spray nozzle on the wiper. U.S. Pat. No. 3,320,627 to Engel discloses an automobile mirror wiper which is driven by a linkage to a conventional windshield wiper. The foregoing are just a few representative examples of efforts of others to deal with the problem of cleaning outside, side mounted mirrors, but generally they have the shortcoming of requiring the provision of a special mirror housing which includes a motive apparatus for the wiper to cause it to traverse the mirror. Thus, the apparatus of the prior patents is expensive, complicated and subject to failure.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a simple and inexpensive wiper for a side mirror which is easy to install and maintain.